ORIGIN

Super Clean: 1987 Mercedes 190E 16V

7/12/2009 Update: This Mercedes was sold off eBay for $10k. Seems like a great deal for a very usable car.

From 7/7/2009:

This 1987 Mercedes Benz 190E 2.3-16 features a very clean body and the best color combination offered on the model. It is a 74k-mile example that has obviously been well cared for. Documentation, condition, and options are just right on this one. Find it here on eBay in Fairfax, Virginia.

Unlike on most of these cars, the special 16-valve wheels remain in very good condition and wear nearly new Michelin tires. 190’s should usually be skipped for more impressive MB models, but 16V’s are the exception. The dog-leg manual trans, sport seats, and hot 4-cylinder make them winners.

We like to see some tasteful modifications, but the original appeal of this car would be difficult to improve. The Nuerburgring badge and front Stuttgart plate are just right. Inside the black interior is impressively preserved. The dash wood is perfect and the seating surfaces and dash look very nice.

Under the hood the logo cam cover and tubular header give the engine a performance look. The car runs and drives as it should with no unusual sounds or smoke.

We like this car for its clean condition, especially for an East Coaster. It would be interesting to investigate some engine upgrade options from guys like RennTech and AMG. This car would work for either daily use or as a keepsake to drive only to special events. We dig it.

Comments

I bought a 190e 16v a few months back…. I love this car! It handles great on the twisty roads. This car will be handed down to my older son while his younger brother rocks a 90 E30 M3. Both great cars! We brought of them to BimmerFest this month. We had people wanting to buy this car on site.

Foo – SL500s have gotten cheap, so you might not be too hard pressed to pull that off. I’ve always wanted a Ford Cobra engined SL, so if that ever happens I’ll give you dibs on the all the 500 bits!

These are so hard to find in this condition that I think it deserved the tip-o-the-hat, but probably not the dollars. Even if these guys competed in Group A with the M3s, they never won like the BMWs did. These were heavier, slower, and more sober than the BMW homologation cars, too. Now a flathood 240 Volvo – there’s a Group A winner that goes unloved. I hear about flathood homologation cars going to the crusher all the time -there can’t be more than 2 or 300 left at this point

The 190 was a W201, not a W124. The E30 outsold the W201 by about half a million cars. The margin was probably much larger in the US. In europe, the 190E 2.3-16 was developed into the 2.5-16 and some wild evolution models that more closely approached the level of differentiation from the taxis that was apparent between an M3 and a 318i.

I would take this car over a 500E merely because it has a manual transmission. There are plenyt of cars I’d take before any Mercedes however.

Really in the same class as an e30? I find that a little hard to believe, I know it may be close in a straight line, but cannot be near as fun to toss about. These are heavier and more complex.

This kinda reminds me of an article about weapons grade vs collectable value in SCM. Granted that was about vintage race cars but some of it applies here. The e30 m3 is very daily driveable and fairly cheap to maintain, as well as a hoot to drive, as well as being an icon, that is easily recognizable as different from a normal e30. This car looks like a tarted up 190e which where much more common then the e30. While this car is more rare, I am not sure you could track it like the m3, and the costs to service may be to high for DD use or spirited driving.

This is like the AMG hammer vs the w124 e500. Sure they are great cars but the price of the hammer does not make it a better car then the e500. Come to think of it, why not just get an e500 over this 190e? They look similar since they are both w124 cars, and maximizes the strength of the car better, and I will bet have better resale down the road.

Back in the day a friend of mine bought a 190E 2.6 as his company car. He specifically wanted a 5-speed manual, and at the time there was exactly one available in the whole western US. That was a terrific car, really quick and fun to drive, and I thought he was nuts for getting rid of it after only a year or so in favor of a Chevy pickup. Granted, the pickup was more useful for his business, but even so…

I’ve often wondered just how rare that car actually was, and if it still exists.

I don’t have the faith to buy a non-compliant car. It seems to me that in various parts of the country the government suddenly started insisting on complete and operational emissions control gear on cars that had been operating for years with their primitive and performance robbing devices removed. Suddenly there was a market for what had been considered garbage to be kept as far from the sports cars of the late ’60s and ’70s as possible. It seems optimistic to trust the government not to change their mind at the private citizen’s expense again. The current administration is riddled with people who don’t like private automobiles at all.

My dad had one of these for awhile. They can be problematic and spendy to repair. They have self leveling rear shocks which can leak, and the injection system often has issues to the tune of about $1k.

But, they are cool, and the car is built like a tank. Not as fast as his E30 M3, but I think he actually liked the Benz better for daily duty.

I passed on one of these about 10 years ago for the lofty sum of $5000. It needed shocks and had about 150k on the odo, but otherwise was in pretty good shape. I’m still not sure if I made the right call or not as I love the oddity/rarity compared to the E30 M3.

I occasionally do wonder about the long-term value of these imports that are on the cusp of the magic 25-year mark… Sure, only 2000 of these Mercs made it State-side at the time of production. That’s good and makes them rare, sure. However the US models made less horsepower than their Euro counterparts, not to mention those dreadful US mandatory headlights.

In this case – in three years you can get a Euro model and import it without any problems. For my money, there’s nothing like having a German-edition German performance car.

(This coming from a guy who had a proper German 635CSi – a totally different car than the American 635CSi, and better indeed than the E24 rig that the marketing department put the “M6″ badges on for the American market.)

Back in the day the dealership I worked for always seemed to have one of these in stock. I was underwhelmed with the cars. I realize this is a different car in many ways but the memory of those 190’s still linger.

These cars are an affordable alternative to the E30 M3, which generally bring twice as much mnoney in similar condition. The 190E 16V does not have the legendary racing success of the M3, but it did compete successfully in touring car racing and was the inspiration behind BMW’s launch of the M3 in 1986.

In strret form, it has similar performance numbers to the E30 M3 and was produced in even lower numbers. What’s not to like?

I own a low mileage E30 M3, but I still wouldn’t mind picking up something like this as well.

That Mercedes 190E 16v is in beautiful shape!!! I bought one for $4800.00 to put in the garage next to my E30 M3. I could only wish it looked this fantastic. I’ve got a long ways to go. This is yet more proof the it’s best to buy the nicest example of a car as you can. It will save you time and money in the long run.

I’m afraid the only snark I can muster for this little beauty is it’s already got 7 bidder’s and a over 6large bid at this writing….and why not?…Cosworth heads,bulletproof internals, 5 link rearend and 150+mph top end.. I believe only about 2000 made it here to the States so in addition to being a first rate Q-ship it’s a collectable as well.. .